Abstract

The compelling percept of three-dimensionality of a transparent rotating cylinder is attainable from the displays which are purely motion-defined. Interestingly, subjects rarely perceive the rotation direction reversals of the cylinder which are physically introduced (Treue, Andersen, Ando, & Hildreth, 1995; Li, 1996). Treue et al interpret this result as showing the possibility that the local feature information is not available any more after the surface interpolation occurs. To test this possibility, subjects performances of perceiving rotation reversals were compared in two different conditions: segregated condition vs. unsegregated condition. In the segregated condition, the front/back surfaces were segregated by the type of micropatterns (orientation, spatial frequency or luminance polarity), but they were not in the unsegregated condition. Subjects perceived much more rotation direction reversals in the segregated condition than in the unsegregated condition. When the rotation reversals were not physically introduced but the local feature types were exchanged, subjects perceived much more illusory rotation reversals in the segregated condition. These results imply that the visual system sensitively responds to the local feature types and the front/back surfaces of the cylinder are labeled by the type of micropatterns after the surface interpolation occurs.